October 4, 2009 in Business

Fueling a new industry

Companies turn waste wood into energy

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Mike Christensen, left, and Jason Brink of ABCO Wood Recycling work at the site in Post Falls last week.
(Full-size photo)

When Shawn Montee finished a logging job, thousands of BTUs of energy used to go up in smoke.

His crews gathered up the logging slash and torched it. To Montee, one of North Idaho’s largest logging contractors, the blazing slash piles always seemed like a waste.

“There was all this good biomass,” he said. “It was sad to see it go up in flames.”

Five years ago, Montee started a spinoff company, ABCO Wood Recycling Inc. Working with three grinders and a crew of 45, the company turns logging slash and other wood waste, such as construction debris, into biofuels.

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